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Cow poacher pleads guilty

A Gympie man has pleaded guilty to slaughtering two Droughtmaster cattle with a compound bow for their meat.

A man from Gympie in south-east Queensland has pleaded guilty to butchering two cows for their meat.

The Gympie Magistrates Court yesterday heard Robert Wakefield entered the Widgee State Forest last month and shot the cows with a high-powered bow before dumping their carcasses and driving off with the meat.

The police prosecutor said one of the animals was heavily pregnant when it was killed.

Investigator with the Kingaroy Stock Squad, senior constable Paul Jones, says the two Droughtmaster cows were show with compound bows and arrows.

He said the investigation was made much easier by a flow of public information.

"It shows that the public are aware of how serious this sort of an offence is; that general public aren't going to accept people entering forests and entering anyone's property and slaughtering cattle and harming the livelihood of the owners of stock."